Having a container of leftover stock from my pig's ear soup leaves me with a world of possibilities. This stock has the exciting ability to stay gelled at room temperature, which makes the possibilities far more interesting than a simple soup.
As I've said throughout, this stock has been in my freezer since I last made headcheese, so although I have no pork to suspend in it I think I'm going to make something like a headcheese. A headless headcheese. Decapitated headcheese.
I only make headcheese when I have a head. And I usually find myself with a pig's head after I roast a pig. Which I did when I first moved to Boston. I managed to roast a seventeen pound pig in the tiny domestic kitchen. My Mum was very proud.
There's the pig. Many thanks to my dear friend Naomi who took this photo and then left it on facebook for me to find two years later. Unphased by not having a pan big enough to fit my pig I simply placed my porcine lovely directly on the oven rack, lined my oven with foil and prayed. The smoke detector went off multiple times, and I managed to set an oven mitt on fire. No one was hurt. The oven also managed to stay remarkably clean throughout the entire process.
The plan for this stock today is to get a small piece of pork shoulder if I can find it, or some other fatty piece otherwise . Then braise it, shred it, season it and suspend it in my gelatinous stock. Making something close to a headcheese.
I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate my leftover fried ears into this as well. And possibly use some leftover soup, provided it can stay gelled. Ideally making a multi-layered, multi-coloured terrine/headcheese type thing.
With a good viscous stock the options seem endless.